Muslims now outnumber Catholics worldwide, making Islam the most widespread religious denomination, according to the Vatican.
According to official Vatican figures for 2006, Islam has more than 1.3 billion adherents, comprising 19.2 percent of the global population, and the more than 1.1 billion Catholics represent 17.4 percent.
Christians of all denominations represent one-third of the world population of 6.5 billion.
The figures, which appear in the Vatican’s latest yearbook, were reported in weekend editions of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
